Proposal to provide state funding for development of Providence’s Superman’ building draws criticism

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A proposal to provide $39 million in state financing for redevelopment of the so-called “Superman” office building downtown ran into opposition Tuesday from advocates for Rhode Island’s...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A proposal to provide $39 million in state financing for redevelopment of the so-called “Superman” office building downtown ran into opposition Tuesday from advocates for Rhode Island’s homeless population.

Social policy advocates were among about 40 people who packed a State House meeting room where the Senate Finance Committee met to learn details of the development funding proposal.

The advocates contend that there is a desperate need for homeless prevention programs and affordable housing options in Rhode Island, making it “perplexing” that legislators would consider earmarking $39 million for use by the owner of 111 Westminster St. — the historic Providence office tower sometimes referred to as the “Superman” building.

“We certainly don’t oppose an investment in housing,” said Eric Hirsch of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. “We’re just outraged at the disparity.”

The current state budget proposal would provide just $750,000 for affordable housing efforts, he asserted.

David Sweetser, the lead executive for Massachusetts-based High Rock Development, has been lobbying city and state officials for a year to secure financing to redevelop the office building.

He wants to convert the landmark tower into 278 apartments, eyeing its grand banking room and its below-ground vault for 35,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

Splitting a state financial commitment into four annual installments of $9.75 million would allow him to move forward on the project, he said.

The Senate bill (S2898) would create the “111 Westminster historic redevelopment program and revolving fund” — seeding it with up to $39 million. The bill suggests the new fund be overseen by the state Department of Administration.

A state commitment would allow Sweetser to close a financing gap for a reconstruction budget he estimates at $115 million.

Sweetser drew support from a number of quarters, including Sen. Joshua Miller, the lead sponsor of the Senate bill that would provide the funding. Miller is a Cranston Democrat and downtown businessman.

The funding, Miller said, is “critical” to “spur the job creation we so desperately need.”

Scott Duhamel, the business representative for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said a project of this magnitude would help the union’s struggling membership.

The project would create the equivalent of 1,095 full-time jobs during its two-year duration, according to a High Rock consultant. Once complete, about 100 people would be employed in the building — either to serve its 450 residents — or at work in the restaurants and offices that would take up its bottom floors, under current plans. Another 150 or so jobs would be created at businesses around the building as the result of its use as apartments, according to the consultant.

Social policy advocate Fred Ordonez, of Direct Action for Rights and Equality, questioned the validity of such estimates. Ordonez said the state has limited capability to analyze whether such predictions prove true.

“This is an outrage. It’s a slap in the face of low-income folks of color around the state,” Ordonez said.